Community
invited to animal, orchestral and sixties events

Villagers from Fernhill Heath
and the surrounding area are being invited to join residents of Fernhill House for a series of free, fun events in the New Year.

The home is hosting a
clutch of activities over the coming weeks and, as always, is keen to involve those
from surrounding villages to help residents feel part of the wider community.

Worcestershire photographer
and travel enthusiast Ray Sturdy presents one of the popular travel and social
history shows he tours around the county to raise money for Cancer Research UK
on Friday January 5 at 2pm.

He
will be remembering the Swinging Sixties and taking a nostalgic
look at events which shaped the lives at those living half a century ago.

Ray
explained: “Britain had new cars, motorways, new housing, a youth boom and
petrol at 5/- (25p) per gallon. Pop music, The Beatles, Twiggy and Concorde
arrived in a decade of change and revolution. There were scandals, a royal
wedding, a walk and almost a nuclear war!”

Teas,
coffees and home-made cakes will be available during the talk.
The following week, Friday
January 12 at 1pm, sees a visit from a menagerie thanks to animal handling
experience company Zoolab.

Residents and visitors will be
encouraged to stroke, pet and hold spiders, reptiles and furry mammals.

Home manager Peta Mandleberg
explained: “We are firm believers at Fernhill House in the power of animal
therapy. I often bring my two labradoodles in to visit the residents. Zoolab offers
a rather different animal encounter. Holding a tarantula may not be as soothing
as stroking a dog but it provides an interesting sensory experience and is
certainly unusual! Animal-assisted
therapy is recognised as an occupational therapy within psychology. Animals can
bring people together, helping them see things with a different perspective and
to cope in the most adverse of situations.”

And
for those in search of a bit of culture, a duo from the Worcestershire-based English
Symphony Orchestra, aka the International Orchestra of Elgar Country, will perform
on Thursday January 25th at 11am.
The orchestra is regarded as a major force in
British musical life, has recorded a full-length opera (the world premiere of
John Joubert’s Jane Eyre) and released recordings including Classic FM’s Disc
of the Week. The Elgar Piano Quintet and the Sunday Times Essential New Release
the Complete Piano Concertos of Ernst Krenek.